In the meantime
by Iceewhateverthenumbersare
Summary: One-shot. Trips to the aquarium have always been a relaxing treat for Xelia... unless that aquarium is in Gotham City.


**Come in, come in! Welcome to the most randomly written one-shot ever!**

**Yeah, so I just wanted to do something that can pretty much be a stand alone story. One-shots are a great way to just throw ideas around without them having to really revolve around a multi-chapter story, or relate to anything!**

There wasn't any place more relaxing than Gotham's downtown aquarium. The fish, the colors, the serenity; it was all so peaceful to Xelia. Aside from some families and small school groups, there was hardly anyone there. There was even free valet parking today!

The girl in the admission ticket booth looked beyond bored, not that Xelia could blame her; it could be a whole hour before someone else showed up. Xelia happily talked about her hair for a bit to the curious girl before entering the dark lit aquarium. Gotham boasted a rather large aquarium, which Xelia was thankful for, equipped with a restaurant, shark tunnel, and a children's playground. In addition to fish it had all sorts of turtles, exotic birds, frogs, and even alligators.

It was quiet inside, the soft humming of lights over head being the most predominate noise; or it would have been if the tourists group in the corner of the room wasn't loudly taking a head count. Xelia made sure to let the group go on ahead of her, so she could go the opposite way of them. In the mean time, she feigned interest in the donation and dedication plaques. The most common name out of them was Bruce Wayne and Wayne Industries; donating this, funding that. Xelia supposed that when you practically owned half of the city, you could be as charitable as you desired.

Heading in the opposite way of the tour, Xelia's first stop was the tide pool; a shallow pool where you could touch sting rays, small sharks, and other various sea animals. She'd never admit it, but she was always nervous to touch the sea animals, her hand just hovering a few inches over them rather. Taking a deep breath she dipped her hand in the water, quickly retracting it as a small nursing shark circled around her wrist.

"You know, they really are harmless; otherwise they wouldn't let children touch them... Or would they?"

"Hmm, I thought I smelled something fishy." Xelia answered flatly before turning around to see The Riddler standing behind her, in all his casual dressed glory. She couldn't help but quirk a brow at his white polo shirt and khaki pants, not a trace of green in sight; she supposed that that would be too obvious. In return, he just smirked down at her and easily reached down into the shallow pool, petting a shark.

"They're just like a harmless kitty cats." He said, mocking Xelia, who pursed her lips as she tried once more to touch one of the sea creatures. As much as she'd rather not, she knew when it came to Edward Nygma, letting him be right would only inflate his over inflated ego even more. She quickly touched a passing sting ray, not quite willing to touch one of nursing sharks.

"Shouldn't you be hiding in your lair, or man cave, or whatever you call it?" Xelia asked as she crossed her arms, subtly moving away from the man who was absently swirling his finger in the water.

"I enjoy days off just as you do, and I live in an apartment, thank you." He said before a sour look over came his features, "Most of the time anyways." He growled to himself, sending an involuntary shudder up Xelia's spine. She tried her best to discreetly slip into the next area of the aquarium; as discreetly as someone with neon colored hair could.

As fate would have it, Eddie just followed her. Close enough to be a nuisance, but far away enough to where she couldn't quite complain. There was an awkward silence between the two of them as they moved about the room, gazing at all the animals. Xelia stared at the jellyfish, almost mesmerized by their ability to gracefully dance in the water.

"Riddle me this," Eddie's hushed voice made Xelia jump a bit, not expecting him to be that close to her as she turned to face him. "If two goldfish were in the river with the river flowing south, and one drowned, where would the body float to?" Taking a step back to gain her personal space back, Xelia looked at Eddie with disinterest.

"I don't know, south?" She frowned as his lips widened into a smug grin.

"No, silly," he bent down just inches from her face, sending a blush across her face. "Fish don't drown." He tapped the tip of her nose playfully, making Xelia blush all the more; as well as making her urge to punch him all the more greater.

"If you're going to ask stupid questions all day, then I'm just going to hide in the girl's restroom until you leave." Xelia said flatly, un amused by Eddie deciding to ruin her personal day.

"Oh, fine," Eddie rolled his hazel eyes in response and crossed his arms over dramatically; not that anything Edward Nygma did was anything less than overly dramatic. "Have it your way."

Xelia just turned away from him and continued on her journey through the vast collection of animals, getting an occasional comment or fact from Eddie. Heaven forbid Eddie not reassert his brilliance even minuet; or his inability to remain quiet. She was no psychologist, but she would bet money on the idea of him being that one kid in class that just had to assert the fact that he knew more than others. She could remember a kid similar to that in her own class, always announcing when other kids were wrong, and stating that he knew the right answer. She could also remember how he finally got what he deserved when he insulted a rather slow-in-the-head jock.

After a while they'd finally managed to reach one of Xelia's favorite areas; the shark tunnel. Aside from the sharks being a little intimidating, it was almost magical to be able to walk under them and the abundance of fish. She slowed her pace, which seemed to annoy Eddie a bit, as he boredly stared at the sharks overhead. Sharks were nothing special to super villains; just about everyone at one time has tried to get rid of Batman by shark, or in Joker's case shark and piranha.

"You know, they're just big fish with sharp teeth." Xelia rolled her eyes in response to the red head. "They're really not that fascinating."

"I thought they were just like kitty cats." Xelia said mockingly towards Eddie, who just smiled back at her.

"No, the nursing sharks are like cats. These," he said gesturing above himself, "can easily kill someone... but they're not a fan of bats." He said, once again sending himself into a random fowl mood. Xelia decided to remain quiet for moment, allowing Eddie's mood to bounce back once more.

"You know, you don't have to follow me." She stuck a hand on her hip and glanced over in Eddie's direction. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, idly looking around as he leaned up against one of the tunnel walls. For a few moments Xelia had forgotten that he was a wanted Gotham criminal; he looked so... normal at that moment, almost attractive even. Of course, as soon as that thought formed in her mind, it was quickly banished as she remembered who it was she was looking at.

"Where would be the fun in that?" He asked smugly, knowing that his presence made Xelia uncomfortable; it was always a delight for Eddie to make her squirm. He just smiled as she once more frowned and turned away from him, pretending he wasn't there. There was an odd, almost friendly, mood between the two as they continued through the aquarium lined walls. The two of them knew that once they stepped out of the aquarium, things would go back to normal; Eddie would soon be back to his life of crime, and perhaps even back to Arkham. Xelia would be back to her "normal" routine. For these couple of hours, in the meantime, the two of them were just content looking at fish.

**OMGWTFBBQ!1!**

**I'm sure everyone's wondering wtf that was all about, and yeaaaah… I'm not quite sure myself.**

**For anyone out there saying "Eddie wouldn't go out in public randomly!", or "Since when did Eddie like fish!", oooor perhaps, "This is stuuuuuupid!" just tell yourself to relax and remember that you're reading a fictional story about fictional people written by a fan-girl.**

**Tootles!**


End file.
